Of all the clouds I have seen thunder clouds demonstrate the greatest majesty. From afar they appear as towering white gods painted on a deep azure canvas by nature's elements. Isolated columns of billowy muscle their majestic contours rise above the other clouds with which they share a common base. These colossal pillars -- noble gods of aqueous vapor -- cast long shadows on the ground below. When angered noble spirits cast jagged spears and fireballs of destruction on those who dwell beneath. Everyone trembles, as no one escapes their deafening bang. Heavy rain follows, the sun shines, and flowers, crops, and animal life of every sort flourish -- including humans.
I spent nearly ten years of my life in the shadow of such a cloud, and now, once again, I can see it from afar. It is strange, because my thoughts have changed very little from when I was underneath -- truly Japan has left its divine mark on my being -- innocuous, threatening, and indelible.
In contrast, the cloud that I once saw before I lived under its shadow no longer appear the same -- my curiosity satiated, still my longing remains deep.
This book is not a scientific study about Japanese society, even though at times it may appear to be quite factual. Rather, it is an imaginative attempt to stimulate discussion, compel readers to consider more deeply the origin and nature of the social and linguistic barriers which divide Japanese and foreigners living in Japan, and offer suggestions about how these barriers can be overcome.
This book was not written to bash Japan, nor was it written to sing praise about a society which has a world reputation for being one of the most closed societies in the world. Rather, I have tried my best to appraise Japan as objectively as possible from the point of view of a sole individual, who has viewed Japanese society from a large number of perspectives including those of an immigrant, free-lance translator, university instructor, journalist, anthropologist and economist, as well as a foreign exchange student, social delinquent, world emissary, community leader, and political advocate.
The knowledge contained in this book is the result of direct interaction with Japanese government officials, corporate personnel officers, high school students, college students, bank executives, law enforcement officers, factory workers, office clerks, lawyers, politicians, neighborhood kids, cemetery custodians, station masters, post office personnel, shopkeepers, umpires, corporate presidents, pool directors, training room custodians, housewives, the unemployed, the homeless, Chinese and Korean foreign exchange students, members of the Sokka Gakukai, foreign emissaries, missionaries, temple directors, high ranking military officers of the Australian, US, Japanese and Korean armed forces, researchers from all over the world, and just about anyone else imaginable, who was kind enough to share his or her experience and knowledge with me about Japanese society, the Japanese people, and Japan's role in world affairs. These experiences were gained in Japanese, French, German, English and Spanish.
If this book contains one important bias, then it is that most of this experience has been gained in large urban centers of the Kantô Plain including the cities of Yokosuka, Yokohama, and Tôkyô. Notwithstanding my life in Japan has ranged from a small mokuzô in a quaint northern Tôkyô suburb to a concrete high-rise mansion in a semi-industrial district of downtown Yokohama, from my neighborhood sentô in Tôkyô's Kita-ku to Tenzan Rotenburo in Hakone-Yumoto, from air-conditioned offices in Ôtemachi's and Marunouchi's high rise commercial complexes to the poorly heated classrooms of Saitama University, from the top of Mt. Fuji to the beaches and youth hostels of Tôkyô's seven island paradises located just off the Itô peninsula.
If my critique of Japanese society reflect this important geographical bias, then I apologize to those Japanese and foreign residents living in other areas. Notwithstanding, it is important to remember that 60% of all Japanese live in a narrow corridor of uninterrupted metropolis located between Tôkyô and Ôsaka, that Tôkyô and Yokohama are Japan's first and third largest cities respectively, and that in the final analysis most roads in Japan lead to Tôkyô!
Because this book is still in its preliminary stages, I would very much like to read your criticism and comment, especially in those areas where my imagination has clearly wandered from the facts. Be sure to include the title of my book in your subject title, so I know that you are not the author of a destructive virus and hesitate to open your email.
Maybe someday I will return to Japan and finish my book. For the moment I am happy to be away.
Hashimori Iwato
December 26, 2002
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